Putting The Pieces Together
by Mika Zaraki 141
Summary: Three sisters born together but separated the night after. Years pass and the princes Ryoma and Natsume make a deal with their parents that if they can marry princess Hotaru and stay married for five years, then they may have divorce and never have to get marry again. But when they get to the kingdom things don't happen as they planned it to be ... (Full sum.) NxM RxH RxS (PoTxGA)
1. Separation

**Hi! So this is my new story, _Putting the pieces together._**** I really hope you like it. I don't know weather to put this in the crossover or regular because I'm using the characters but not the storyline, so I'm doing both. :)**

**Genre: Humor, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, Adventure, Action, Family**

**Full Summary: Three sisters born together but separated the night after. Years pass and the princes Ryoma and Natsume make a deal with their parents that if they can marry princess Hotaru and stay married for five years, then they may have divorce and never have to get marry again. But when they get to the kingdom things don't happen as they planned it to be, like mistaking Hotaru's subordinates for her.  
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"Imai-sama!" yelled a nurse as she ran down the hallways of the castle. Her brown hair was held back in a messy bun and a headband was worn across her forehead, which was soaked sweat. Both of her hands were stained with flesh blood and so was her uniform. She had dark bags under eyes like she was working a night nonstop and was heavily panting for air. But the weird thing was the smile, which was graced pleasantly across her face.

"Imai-sama!" she repeated. By now she had ran all the way across the hallway and headed towards a great wooden French door. She reached out to grab the golden handles and pushed the door open.

There was a large desk that was in the back of the room and a man was behind it. The man looked like he was in his late twenties. He had dark black hair and a narrow and strong jawline. He wore a black blazer with a white dress shirt underneath, black pants and a pair of glasses. He had several golden stars and badges on his blazer.

He was anxiously sitting on the edge of his seat while he tapping on the floor with his foot. His elbow was propped up on the table and his palm cupped his cheek. He eyes were glued to the door, waiting for some person to come and tell him the news. When the nurse came in, he was already standing on his feet.

"Congratulation's Imai-sama! Now we have three new princesses added to the royal family!" the nurse exclaimed. But before she could tell him anymore about his wife's situation, he had already passed her and was power walking across the same hallways as the nurse was.

'Triplets! Triplets!' The man thought as he rushed through the hallways, 'And they're all girls!' He couldn't contain his happiness and went into an all out run towards the room where his wife and his three new baby girls were in.

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When he finally got there he saw he wife in a large bed and there were three cribs beside it. The woman looked worn out and pale, but she still looked beautiful. Her wavy brown hair was spread out on the pillow and her breathing was rapid and heavy. Beads of sweat trickled down her face and fell onto the pillow.

He instantly ran to her side and grabbed her hand. She turned her head to look at him and smiled. A tear ran down his cheek, while he rubbed her hand against his face.

"Subaru" she cried, "We have triplets!"

"I know Chihiro. Soon this palace will have three little rascals running around." Subaru laughed off.

"Yeah." Chihiro smiled.

A nurse came up to them, "Would you like to hold them your highness?" she asked. They both looked at her and smiled.

"Yes," Subaru answered.

The nurse turned back to the three cribs and picked up one baby at a time and handed them to the King and Queen, two to Chihiro and one to Subaru. After giving away the babies to their parents the nurse bowed and left the room.

"Subaru" Chihiro, the Queen started "Aren't triplets supposed to look alike?" she asked as she examined the three babies.

"Yea." He answered.

"Then why does our girls look so different from each other?"

The Queen was right; the three babies looked **nothing** alike. The first baby, who Subaru was holding, had dark black hair, just like him and violet eyes while the second baby in Chihiro's arms had dark red hair and chocolate eyes. And the third baby, also in Chihiro's arms, had light brown hair and green eyes. The triplets were so different, that it was hard to believe that the three were triplets or even family as a matter of fact!

Subaru being Subaru, thought more into the subject. 'The only way of the child having different features from me and Chihiro is …' he paled. 'NO, no Chihiro wouldn't do such a thing! Would she?' He frantically thought.

Meanwhile Chihiro sat in the bed just watching her husband's thinking face go pale then into ultimate despair. She was totally confused, anyone would be.

He looked at her, his eyes looked almost hollow, "Could you have cheated on me?" he almost stuttered. The Queen's face went totally blank. "S-so you-" he said but was cut off.

"WHY YOU LILTTLE-! WHY WOULD I EVER CHEAT ON YOU! YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER! AND HOW THE HELL DID YOU EVER COME TO THAT CONCLUSION? HUH?" She yelled. A couple of nerves popped on her head and her face was bright red.

"Well, the only way they would look different from me was if you-" he was cut off again.

"I CAN BE ONLY PREGANT WITH ONE SEED, NOT TWO! ESPECAILLY IF IT'S FROM ANOTHER MAN, IDIOT" She was fuming mad.

Subaru Imai was never the one to joke around or act stupid when he knew the answer. He was a really sharp and clever person but at times his train of thought would just shut down and wonder off into something totally **not** logic.

" IF I WASN'T HOLDING _OUR _DAUGHTERS, I WOULD BASH YOUR HEAD INTO THE WALL RIGHT NOW!" she said and she meant it. She was furious that her _beloved_ husband just accused her of cheating of him. She started to go on and on about how she loved him and how he dared to say to that she was cheating.

But the amazing thing was all of the three babies stayed sound asleep when their mother was giving their father a yelling lecture. Well, all but one, who was in Subaru's arms, she woke up around the middle of the lecture and emotionlessly watched her mother scold her dad.

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"Seems Subaru-sama and Chihiro-sama are at it again." Said a maid, who was just in the hallway outside of the room, walking.

"Well Subaru-sama kind of deserves it, for assuming things about Chihiro-sama." Said the other maid. They both chucked. It seemed both maids were on the queen's side this time.

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After ten minutes of the yelling lecture, the queen stopped and calmed down, for both her and husband's sakes.

"Look Chihiro, she was awake the whole time," Subaru pointed out to his wife.

"Oh, was she?" Chihiro said with a smirk. On the inside she was kinda glad that her daughter saw her scolding Subaru.

"What do you suppose we name her, Chihiro?" Subaru asked as he rocked the baby in his arms, back and forth slowly back to sleep.

"Hm. What about Hotaru?" she suggested, "Hotaru Imai. It has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?"

"Yeah"

"What about these two?" Chihiro asked.

"Hm." He examined both sleeping babies in her arms; both little girls had sweet round innocent eyes and pretty colored hair.

"Sakuno Imai will be the one with red hair and Mikan Imai will be the other one." He said, quite contented with the names he chose.

"Sakuno and Mikan" she repeated as she rocked babies in her arms. They both smiled at the three little babies.

That night three baby cribs were put in the King and Queen's bedroom but the babies weren't put there. Instead they slept with their parents on the giant king size bed, all huddled up in the middle of the bed. Hotaru on the left, Mikan on the right and little Sakuno in the middle, with their mother and father at both ends of the bed.

Their first night together was full of laughter and smiles it was a memory both parents cherished and kept in their minds forever.

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Chihiro, half asleep, slowly opened her eyes and looked down to where her three little triplets were or where they were supposed to be. She widened her eyes; two of the babies were missing! She started to pat down the mattress and look all around her, but there was only Hotaru and Subaru in the room. Chihiro stood up and ran to Subaru's side.

"Subaru!" she yelled, anxious and scared she shook Subaru awake.

"Chihiro, why are you yelling for?" Subaru said as he brushed her off and turned to Hotaru, who was at side and pulled her into his arms to back was ready to fall back to sleep when he noticed that Hotaru was the only baby that was on the bed. He looked at around the bed but nothing was there, expect for blankets and pillows.

He stood up, with baby Hotaru in his arms, and looked at Chihiro who was sitting on the ground balling. He settled Hotaru on the bed and knelt one knee to the ground. He grabbed both of her shoulders and asked, "Chihiro, what's wrong? Where are Mikan and Sakuno?"

She looked up and looked deep into her husband's eyes, "I don't know, Subaru. When I woke up they weren't there, only Hotaru." She said with tears slipping out of her eyes. Subaru's eyes instantly widened with shock, he started to frantically search the bed, flipping blankets, throwing pillows, calling both Sakuno's and Mikan's name but nothing was found or heard.

He grabbed Hotaru of the bed and gave her to her mother; he knelt down to the ground again and hugged both of them while tears seeped out both parent's faces.

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That day the King ordered all the knights and royal guard to search for the missing princesses. All the homes were searched and the royal bedroom was turned into a crime scene and was investigated. Even the commoners were out searching, too. The whole kingdom was flipped upside down and everyone was looking for the two lost princesses. But in the end they were never found.

Everyone loved and admired the monarchy in the Imai kingdom, a kingdom with a kind and clever king, and a merciful and noble queen who stood by his side. Both made the kingdom flourish with prosperity and provision.

When the other kingdoms heard the news about the great Imai kingdom losing two of the three triplet princess, they felt as if they had the duty to help out, especially the Hyuuga and the Echizen kingdom, who were good friends of both the queen and king. Multiple gifts and presents were sent to the Imai kingdom. Swords, animals, silver, gold, and all sorts of stuff were given. But the Echizen and Hyuuga gave something a bit different for the other kingdoms, instead of material things they went personally to the kingdom and personally gave them an offer, that will help secure their beloved their daughter's, Hotaru, Future.

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**So how do you guys like? Is it good, bad, tell me how you guys feel about this chapter. Although I won't be updating this as frequently like my other stories, p****lease Review, Favorite and Follow!**

**Thanks for reading :D **

**P.S. if you guys have any questions PM me or say in the reviews :D **


	2. The Princess

**So this is Chapter 2 to Putting the Pieces Together! Sorry for not updating in awhile, like I said in the first chapter I'm also working on another story and i'm not going to be updating as frequently as I would like, but please still review, fav. and follow! Hope you guys like this!**

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Many years passed since that tragic day for the Imai kingdom. The small little baby that was left behind became a graceful and intelligent, young princess. She had become known throughout the regions as the Ice Princess, for constant stoic face and cold remarks. But she was also known as a very clever and capable person and was the most logical out of the other kingdom princesses, who were pricy airheads. So all in all, she had a good standing in society, off of being a princess and everything.

Hotaru was a jack-of-all-trades you could say. Wherever Princess Hotaru appeared somewhere, she always amazed people of that area with her skills. For example, when she was invited to the archery match to watch the famous archers go against each other, she couldn't sit in her seat and watch. She got up from her seat and forcefully joined the competition, and surprisingly, to the crowd, she had won the tournament and never missed the target, weather if it was moving or not.

Her parents, King Subaru and Queen Chihiro Imai, were as all parents would be if they had a child like Hotaru, proud. They were proud not only because Hotaru was this kind of person but also because they themselves raised her, not the palace maids or butlers.

You may not think this was important since we are ourselves are raised by our parents or relatives, but usually as a princess your parents, the king and queen, don't _raise_ you but your hand servant or professor. Like all the other princesses in the kingdom, you wouldn't meet your parents until dinnertime or when they requested for you to see them. Since the moment you wake up and the moment to shut your eyes to go sleep there is always a servant by your side, caring to your every need. This can cause a person to become arrogant and a rotten brat since there is no discipline set.

But for the Imai kingdom it was different. The incident with losing the two princess of the kingdom at such a tender age, took its toll on the King and Queen. They never ever wanted to lose something that was precious to them again, so they kept want they cherished as close as they possibly could so no one would be able to steal what was theirs. Causing them to act towards Hotaru as they did.

Hotaru was constantly surrounded her parents, they were her role models and teachers. Instead of having to sit down and hear a palace professor give a whole speech on a lesson, she had her father or mother give it to her but it wasn't really a speech anymore but more of a conversation. Her parents would relate the subject; they were talking about, to things Hotaru herself was interested in. They would be constantly exchanging words and at the same time she would be learning more than the average princess would.

Through her father she learned about the economy of the country and how the market system would work. And through her mother she learned how to have the right manners and she also was taught the history of the kingdom itself.

But she didn't solely have her mother and father as her mentors but also the palace professors, though they weren't as major as her parents, they taught her things her parents couldn't. They taught her about science, the world of magic and Alice. There with them she found out what her Alice was, invention.

At a young age Hotaru began to create inventions, no one would have ever thought of. It was so wholly of her entire imagination. She was able to find scraps of metal and make them into things no one would have thought it could become. She was envied by many to have such a good alice and having the ability to use it to it's full potential like that.

But throughout her early young life, Hotaru was never told the fact that she had sisters. She thought of herself as an only child, a lonely child. She could have the attention of her parents and of the entire household of the Imai kingdom but they were all adults and to a small child it would be very lonesome not having a person who could understand you. This loneliness slowly got to her and she herself began to build an emotionless façade towards everyone around her, excluding her parents at times. But things began to change, when she met a certain person, she gradually began to crack her emotionless mask towards the world once again.

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No one knows what really happened that night the tiny princesses were stolen; well expect the thieves who had taken them.

"Let us lie in wait to _shed_ blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause" This exactly describes these two thieves. Evil enough to kill the innocent for their own gain and so corrupted in this evilness to ask others to join them in their act.

The two kidnappers wanted to make quick money in the blank market or any kind they could. And around that time they caught hear of the Queen of the Imai Kingdom, being pregnant and was about to give birth soon. This rumor attracted the thieves. The price of slaves were raising and kidnapping a child of royal blood only made the prince rise even higher. So the kidnappers had the vilest idea, to kidnap the child of the monarchy and sell it to the black market for as much gold they were able to get.

From then on the thieves started to make plans for their scheme. They watched the security of the Imai kingdom and found the perfect times and blind spots to intrude on.

The night the Queen gave birth, the two were in the castle, waiting. Waiting for the right time to snatch the baby from the parents' clutches and flee to the blank market to sell the golden baby.

The night was noisy and active, just the perfect atmosphere a thieve would want, everyone being so busy and not realize what they were doing.

They disguised themselves as guards of the area as they waited. They were the guards outside in the courtyard, it was a perfect position for them, they could easily go to the blind spots and the window of the monarchy was give a couple of stories above them. At any time they wanted to, they could go to the king and queen's room and steal their beloved baby.

They waited and waited for the specific set time to do this scheme. They waited for three signals to tell them they could go in and steal, one; the cry of the newborn baby, two; the palace gossip about the baby to reach them and lastly, three; the lights of the king and queen's room to be turned off. The cry signaling the baby was born. Palace gossip spreads fast and once it'll get to them it'll probably be about a half an hour to an hour, just enough time for everything to settle down and also around that time they recorded the guards to be more at ease then any other time in the time. And the lights inside of the bedroom returning off, indicating the monarchy were asleep, so when they enter the bedroom without being noticed.

As the moon rose higher in the sky, they were getting more and more anxious about their positions. Anyone being caught in they're situation would be instantly hanged on the next sunrise as punishment. The fact of being caught in the situation they were in, got to them.

Their nervousness almost dissipated when they heard the first signal, the cry. But their wasn't just one … but three, and they all sounded different. This struck the thieves odd, why would they're be three voices instead of one? After a couple of minutes of thinking, they just brushed it off as if it was nothing and waited for the next cue, gossip.

Just after 30 minutes, they saw a palace maid approach near by palace guard. It was obvious that she was one of the maids that helped with the labor because of her blood stained hands and clothes. They could barely hear her voice but they both knew she was talking about the newborn since she did various hand motions indicating a baby and that sort of thing.

'_Two down, one more to go._' One of the thieves thought as they both observed the guard and maid talk. They talked for about ten to fifteen minutes before she hurried back into the castle.

After awhile the two thieves started to look around trying to look normal as possible, they were just simply turning their heads like all the other guards did when they watched them before. But known to the other guards around that area, they were secretly stealing glances at the royal bedroom, checking either if the lights were off or on.

They could see the outlines of the royalties through the certain, as they moved inside they're room. It was only a little bit after till the lights there were turned off and their silhouettes' were lying down on the bed.

Now with all three signals were down with the three thieves were able to take action. They swiftly changed their outfits to normal clothes (for them), clad in tight black from the head to toes. These special clothes had capabilities of being able to stick to things and literally defy gravity; perfect for the jobs they took up.

Before leaving for the bedroom they made sure to toss of the disguises so no evidence of them would be left behind. From then on they headed for their destination.

The thieves used their Teleportation Alice to travel to the bedroom ceiling, where they held themselves up with their own physical power, the clothes. The kidnappers looked down at the scene before them, the king, the queen and they beloved child sleeping on the bed, but they were something else there too. It seemed like pillows from their point of view, so they simply brushed it off.

The two looked at each other with devilish smirks on their faces, it was as if they read each other's mind. They both reached for each other's arms and one of their clothes abilities stopped sticking to the walls as they controlled it too. With one sticking on the ceiling, defying gravity, and trying to keep up the other from falling, they looked by professional acrobats.

The lower kidnapper began to swing his body, back and forth, to reaching the other's dangling legs. With one big swing both kidnappers slammed feet together and the clothes' abilities were back in action. At that moment when they were curtain their clothes were working, both of them untangled their arms and the other fell down with gravity, though he never touched the ground. He couldn't, because their feet were struck together, so his feet were basically hanging him.

Now the thieve had a better view of the bed and could see everything much better than he could see it from the ceiling. His fingers could fully grasp the blankets and pillows, the perfect position for him. His eyes scanned the bed and he targeted the baby, which was in the middle and the red haired out of the group.

He smirked and went to grab the babe, but as he picked her up, he heard an ear-piercing scream to his right. He whipped his head to the sound and surprisingly saw another baby and this baby had brown hair. He had to think fast or else their heads would be gone by the morning. He quickly grabbed both babies without thinking and began to swing back and forth like a rocking chair. And the little brunette became a little bit more quiet but still loud enough to wake the royalties.

He began to get real anxious and swung up to his partner, who was still stuck to the wall. His partner caught him with his both of his free hands, which also had gloves that had the same capabilities of their clothes, and gave him a glare before taking the crying baby out of his hands. With that they both used they're teleportation alice and transported to the outskirts of the city.

"What were you thinking?! We almost got caught!" Said the thieve that held Mikan.

"Well you didn't do you anything, and besides now we have two of them" the other kidnapper protested, "and that means double the money!" he cheered.

His partner face palmed, "No! Not double the money! The room said that Queen Chihiro was going to give birth to _a _child, not TWO!" He was furious. "If we tell everyone that the black market that she had given birth to twins, then know one will believe us and this whole thing will be a waste!"

This was true, in those times only a few people were known to have twins, and if you were pregnant everyone would automatically think it was one child. So telling the auctioneers that the beloved Queen Imai gave birth to twins was very risky. They had to dispose of one of the babies or else they wouldn't be able to get the money they wanted and they're whole time planning and succeeding it, will worthless.

But at the time they couldn't think of anything, they were both tired and exhausted from using they're alice to get this far out of the kingdom. They badly needed rest but they couldn't stay in the Imai kingdom. It would be taking too much of a risk to do so, since they both knew that king and queen would have guards at sun rise searching for the two missing children. They had to get out of the Imai kingdom and go to another one.

The closest kingdom was the Hyuuga Kingdom, and the same place the black market action was going to take place. The two thieves decided to walk the farthest they could and try to teleport them, the rest of the way.

Fortunately they had the stamina to walk three fourths of the way there and teleport themselves to the outskirts of the country, where there were limited houses and one small inn.

Problem one; solved. Problem two; still here. They had to get rid of one of the girls, but which one? They thought long and hard about this decision, if they were toss the brown-haired baby, Mikan, they weren't sure if the auctioneers would believe them that the red-haired baby was of royalty, Sakuno, since the Queen had brown hair and the King had black hair. But red-haired slaves were rare and they themselves cost a lot too. Sakuno or Mikan, that was the question.

They chose the sell Sakuno and give up Mikan, since that was the safest choice because the just might reject Mikan but you could actually see Sakuno's red hair so they knew the auctioneers couldn't deny her.

But what to with Mikan, this was just another problem to kill. They scanned the area and dropped the small child at the doorstep of the closest house they could get too. From there they went to the small inn and paid for it with the little money they had left, not forgetting to change their outfits to normal commoner's clothes they found in the near by disposal unit. Though the clothes had holes and were basically rags there were able to pass without being too suspicious.

And the next morning, the two left quietly and left no evidence that they were there and headed towards the black market auction, with baby Sakuno in hand.

But something happened at that black market auction, that even the thieves couldn't comprehend. And the source of the coincident was named Sumire Ryuuzaki, number one assassin of that era.

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	3. At Nogi's doorstep

**Hey guys! I really wanted to thank _funkyhusky _for reviewing my last chapter, it really supported and helped me to keep writing and to make this chapter possibly. But not just _funkyhusky_ but everyone else who favorited and followed this story. :) **

**So here it goes Chapter Three: At Nogi's doorstep**

**Please remeber to favorite, follow and review! (they really do help ... even if it's just one!) **

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"Umma, wha's dat?" a blonde little boy asked his mother as he tugged on her long sleeve shirt. He was just about two years old and was wearing a pair of blue flannel pajamas that matched his eyes.

He was currently sleeping but was awaken by a pitched shriek. At first he was scared but he gathered up all his courage and put on his big-boy pants and went to his mother. Since he and his parents all slept in one room, he only had to take a few steps to get to his parents' bed.

His father was at a business trip at the palace, so it was just he and his mother in the room. The boy's father had a high ranking in the palace, even though they lived in the outskirts if the city. But it wasn't like his father was forced to live there either. It was rather his father's choice.

He went to his mom and called out to her. The boy's small voice made the mother open her eyes and look at her son. She looked in her son's eyes; she could tell he was scared.

"What's wrong, Ruka?" She asked the small boy as she pulled him in bed with her. The feeling of being in his parents' warm bed made Ruka feel safe and he began to calm down and relax. He looked innocently at his mom before he began to talk.

"I … I hurd sumting outside." Ruka said trying to pronounce his words correctly, but failed in the process. His mother raised an eyebrow and pulled out a playful smirk.

"Outside, eh? I wonder what it could be?" She said as she put her index finger to her chin, "Thieves? A Monster?" She amusingly watched Ruka's adorable shocked expressions. "Or maybe … Papa?" She said.

Ruka's face lit up and sat up in the bed, "Appa! Appa!" he said as he flew his hands in the air. He quickly crawled over his mother and landed on his feet in the floor. He scurried towards the door and left the room.

His mother got up too, and followed him to make sure he wouldn't fall down the stairs or trip over his own feet, like he usually did. When they finally got the stairs, instead of going one by one like Ruka usually does, this time he seemed to be overexcited and sat down on the stairs and planned to slide all the way down.

But his mom caught his little planned just before he started to slide and grabbed him before he could be anything else. "No you don't." she said as she heaved him up on her hip.

"Umma! I like go DOWN~!" Ruka whined as he squirmed in her arms. But this had no effect on his mom; she just simply ignored him till they reached the bottom of the stairs. There she let him back to the ground and he ran off again, but she could still see him in sight.

"Appa! Appa!" he yelled out as he ran to the front door. He ran so fast he could almost not stop himself from smashing face first into the door. He swiftly opened the entrance door but didn't find his father, but another future family member, a little sister.

He curiously stared at the small baby on the doorstep, trying to figure out if it was alive or not. Suddenly the same ear-piercing scream, he heard in his bed was heard again but the sound came from the baby. Ruka flinched and unconsciously gripped the handle off the door.

"RUKA!" His mother called, when she heard the scream she raced towards the door. Her heart began to race and the hair in the back of her neck began to stand straight. She had recently had a miscarriage and the terror of losing her own child took its toll on her. And now if it really was a thieve or a robber at her front door, she wouldn't be able to live with herself; knowing she let Ruka go over there. She was already tearing up.

"Ruka!" she shouted again as she got to the front door. Ruka turned to her and innocently pointed at the baby on the ground. She quickly looked at the baby as it made another high-pitched scream, and bent down to her son and hugged him, hard. It felt like the weight of the entire world was off her shoulders, but now she had to face another problem; why is this baby doing on her doorstep and whose is it?

She slowly released Ruka and turned to the small baby on the ground. She took compassion on the newborn and carefully picked it up. Still crying and screaming, she rocked and cooed the baby to relax and calm down. Gradually the baby began to follow her lead and began to fall asleep.

"Poor thing" She frowned at the small infant in her arms. She reached out to the doorknob and closed it shut.

"Umma … " Ruka said as he looked up at his mom and she looked back. She smiled at her son and bent down on one knee to Ruka's eye level.

"Ruka, come on let's go to the living room." She said as she got up and let one hand go for Ruka to grab, while the other carried the newborn. Ruka caught the message, almost instantly, and grabbed her hand and walked with her to the living room.

Once the got to the living room Ruka let go of his mother's hand and hopped on the couch. He cheekily smiled at his mom, who was turning on the lamp that was right next to the couch. She sat right next to Ruka and they both looked down at the baby in her arms.

Her light brown hair glittered in the light and her cheeks were bright pink like she had applied another coat of blush on them. And if you looked even closer, you could see she had a light tint of blue. This struck the mother's curiosity. She lightly laid the back of her hand against the babe's soft cheek. She widened her eyes. The baby was stone cold!

'How long has she been out there?' She thought. She began to fret about the poor abandoned newborn. 'I need to get her warm! Or else she might get sick!' Her motherly instincts were turned on.

She turned to Ruka, and said "Ruka, can you please hold the baby while Mama gets some firewood?" Ruka beamed. "Hai!" The mother carefully gave the small baby to Ruka, head first then feet. She also made sure before she gave him the baby, his back was on the couch, so he could he as steady as possible.

"Be carful, Ruka." She said anxiously. "You must not move around when you hold her, and make sure you hold her tight. And don't forget to hold her head." Ruka just nodded. And with that she left.

She ran off to the storage room, where they kept the firewood for the winter. She grabbed two half logs before she ran back to the living room. When she came back, Ruka was in the same position he was left in, thankfully. She turned her back towards the two infants and started to make a fire. After a couple of tries, she finally got it going.

She hurried back to the couch and cautiously took back the baby in her arms. She quickly went back to the fireplace and gracefully sat down near it, trying to warm the freezing baby. Once the baby was out of Ruka's arms he jumped of the couch and followed his mom to the fireplace.

"Umma?" Ruka sat down right next to his mom and put his hand on her arm. He stared at her with his big blue innocent eyes. She turned to him and locked eyes, as if she was reading his mind. She smiled at him warmly before answering him, "Umma's trying warm baby up, Ruka."

Ruka gave her a questioned look, "Wae?"

"Because~ baby is cold and I don't want her to get sick … do you want her to get sick?" She said changing her tone to a playful one. Ruka widened his eyes and instantly shook his head. She started to chuckle.

"Then we should get her warm so she _won't_ be sick," she said as she rubbed the newborn's small arms, trying to generate warmth.

Ruka saw what his mother was doing and decided to do the same thing, but a bit different. Instead of just rubbing her limbs, he decided to 'catch the fire's heat' by going the closet to the fire he could and cupping the warm air and quickly bringing it to the baby. And then start rubbing her feet. He did this every five minutes since he thought the heat would be gone after that time period.

His mom just laughed as she watched him go and back and forth to the fire.

Gradually the infant began to turn to a normal color, and she no longer felt cold, but warm. By then Ruka had gotten tired of 'catching heat' and, along with the baby, fell asleep in his mother's lap.

The mother smiled down at the scene before her, they looked like a real family. And at that very moment Ruka's mother decided to keep Mikan as her very own daughter and not give her up to anyone.

* * *

The open door of the Nogi manner squeaked open and there stood the man of the house, Izumi Nogi. He had just come back from an important business trip at the palace where he worked as one of the kingdom's councilmen. It was late at night when he entered the house, but surprisingly there in the living the lights were still on.

'Odd~, Why are the lights on? It's not like Yuka to forget to turn off the lights,' he thought as he referred Ruka's mother as Yuka, which really was her real name.

He slowly took his shoes of and entered the house, trying not the make as little noise as possible. He was getting closer to the living room, where the source of light was, and saw his beloved family, Yuka, asleep, on the couch and Ruka on her lap sleeping too. He let out a cheeky smile, 'Awwwwe, they were waiting for me!' he thought, as his ego grow even larger.

As he came closer, he noticed that his beloved Yuka was carrying something, or more like someone. It was a small baby. Izumi widened his eyes, 'why does she have a baby?!' he started to panic. He started to pace back and forth; not noticing the noise of his stomps was waking his child.

"Mmmm …" Ruka stirred from his sleep as he lifted his head from his mom's lap. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his small hands. At first he could only saw blobs and outlines of thing, but gradually his vision came to him.

"Appa?" Ruka said still half asleep. Izumi swiftly turned back around to his small son, shocked that he was awake.

"Appa!" Ruka repeated, he didn't raise his voice higher from a whisper but you could still tell the excitement in it. He tried to get up, still fighting back his fatigue, but failed when his arms gave out on him and he started to fall of the couch to the ground, but fortunately his father was sharp and sharp, and caught him, before he landed.

Ruka took a big breath and let it out as he was in his father's warm embrace. He began to mold to the shape of his father's arms, trying to become more comfortable to sleep. Izumi let out a warm and gentle smile as he stared at his son.

He stood up from the ground and began to walk upstairs to his room and placed the small boy in the middle of the gigantic king-size bed. He pulled the covers over Ruka and left downstairs, to do the same with his wife and unknown child. As he came the couch he stared at the infant in his wife's arms.

Her light brown hair and rosy cheeks made her appearance so irresistible to squeeze her soft plump cheeks. It was like God gave him the small little girl he always wanted. He had almost given up all hope when his wife had a miscarriage and knew how she felt about losing the child, he thought he could never have a daughter anymore, but he was proved wrong. Here she was in front of his eyes, in his wife's hands. He couldn't be happier.

All he hoped is that the child wasn't a child she was just _babysitting _or a child she could have gotten while cheating on him, but of course that would never happen since he trusted her and she trusted him.

He carefully took the small babe from his wife's hands, making extra precaution about her head, and also put her upstairs in the king-size bed, next to Ruka. Now lastly it was his wife's turn. He scooped her up in his arms, one arms under her legs and the other under her shoulders, and carried her bridal-style up the stairs. He placed her on the other side of Ruka, at the nearer end of the bed, but close enough to the middle so even if she could roll twice she wouldn't fall out of bed.

Now that everyone was in bed asleep he chose to take a quick shower and to turn all the lights off and jump in bed with everyone. It was a perfect night to be in bed with everyone since the night was cold and everyone's body heat kept each other warm.

* * *

In the morning Yuka and Izumi discussed about what to do with Mikan, even though they both wanted to keep her there were also things that would stop them from doing it. Like the fact that they were not her birth parents and her birth parents could be right now looking for her. (Which they were) They came up with a final decision; if they couldn't find her birth parents within the one-week period of time, they would officially take the infant as their own.

And of course they didn't find her birth parents, which made them really happy since they didn't have to give her up, and then Mikan officially became their daughter, and Ruka's younger sister.

And that's what happened, Mikan became a part of the Nogi family. Though ironically her name never changed because Ruka's Mother, Yuka Nogi, had a hunch that that was her name.

Mikan social standing was as a daughter of a palace official so naturally she lived a life full of things that were given to her somewhat easily, but she never was over spoiled nor did she become a rotten brat. Mikan had an easy yet moderately challenging childhood as she became and was a family member of the Nogi manner. With Yuka, Izumi, and Ruka there for her everything was sunshine and daisies, and even if it weren't that good Mikan would find the good in everything.

But unfortunately for her other triplet, Sakuno, it wasn't like that at all. Her childhood was actually almost the opposite of Mikan's and Hotaru's, Sakuno didn't get parents … but something else, which was entirely different from theirs.

But what do you expect? Since just on the second day of birth, she was already at a slave action ready to be sold and bought to anyone who had enough money to buy her.

* * *

**So how did you like it? Isn't great I finally answered your question _SoshiGee_ here's Ruka for you and this is one of his roles in the story, Mikan's older brother. And yes, I would like to say Ruka _is _going to be one of Hotaru's love interest (outside of Natsume and Ryoma since they _are_ her fiancées) **

**Like I said in the beginning, please review! They can really make a different in how fast these chapters may come. :) **

**- Mika Zaraki 141 **

**(P.S. check out my other story _Secret, _it's a Ryosaku story! It's not in fantasy world but in Seigaku, and here's the part that makes it interesting ... in my story Sakuno has to cross-dress as a guy for school and not let her true identity be known! She has many challenges and times where she is suspected as a girl, but off couse I can't tell you anymore! you have to read it yourself!)  
**


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